France has promised to hire 3,000 new supply teachers after pupils protested over the state of their secondary schools.

This month, hundreds of thousands of pupils nationwide have blocked the entrances to their schools and taken to the streets instead of attending classes.

In some parts of the country, protests turned violent. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that more than 700 police officers, 200 children and 85 school staff had suffered injuries.

The use of stun grenades to control the protests was banned after a teenage boy lost his hand, and another lost most of his teeth. One boy also lost sight in his eye after being hit by a rubber bullet. Another pupil was arrested when a one-year-old infant was hit by a firework and hospitalised.

Police have held around 7,000 people, and six in seven of them have been children.

What’s wrong with schools?

Lots of pupils say education in France is failing them, and they feel “abandoned” and worried about their future. France spends a fair bit on education, but it has about twice as many schools as in the UK, and many of the buildings are old.

Videos shared online show crumbling schools, scurrying rats, leaking ceilings and broken toilets. Some say classrooms are overcrowded, boiling in summer and freezing in winter.

A 15-year-old told the BBC: “There aren’t even enough chairs. We have to go and find some at the start of every lesson.”

Many teachers have joined the protests, too. One teacher in Lille, Madame Monins, said it has become normal for classes to be packed with 35 students, with timetables that start at 8am and end at 6pm. She said it is “impossible to give every child the attention they deserve”.

Mr Lecornu says the government will present a plan to fix the schools crisis by the end of the month.